Til Sunbeams Find You
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day three hundred and eighty-nine: Quinn is looking to an evening with her parents and Finn, and Rachel offers her a deal.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 18th cycle. Now cycle 19!_

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**"'Til Sunbeams Find You"  
Rachel & Quinn  
Sunshine Girls #19 **

Rachel had started to keep spare clothes in her locker, in the event of a particularly messy Slushie encounter. So far she hadn't really needed them, and then that day… Azimio had apparently decided he hadn't tried a sneak attack, and that was how Rachel had been forced to dig into her reserve of clothes… the stuff had dripped all down the back of her – after an icy shock to the system – so she had no other choice. If her English teacher had any problem with her being late, well all she had to do was show her purple-soaked things.

She was just finishing fixing her hair when she heard the door slam open and a rush of wind was revealed to be Quinn, who had stomped over to the sinks. She ran her hand under cold water and then slipped her cooled palm to the back of her neck… She breathed out. Rachel knew Quinn hadn't seen her… She'd have to reveal herself before long, so…

"Quinn?" she spoke and, as expected, the blonde startled, then settled. "Are you okay?" she asked slowly.

"I… yeah," she spoke, continuing to press her hand to her neck, cheeks… After a moment, she explained to her. "So now Finn's mother knows…" was all that needed to be said; what it was that she now knew about went without saying.

"Well… She would have found out eventually, right?" Quinn looked back to the mirror without answering. "How's she taking it?"

"I didn't bother asking him," Quinn frowned to herself. Then she remembered something and her head bowed as she closed her eyes and sighed.

"What?" Rachel asked. Quinn looked back up. She was getting pretty good at reading her face, the more they spent time together again, both in and out of Glee Club. It was still a work in progress; sometimes it felt like they would always be. But then something had happened, after Rachel told Quinn what she'd seen, her father and the tattooed girl at the mall. Painful as it had been to discover, it had gotten Quinn to let Rachel in a few steps more. It had been surprising, but she had welcomed it all the same. For both of them, the more time they spent together, with less resistance given, the more if was that they discovered – or rediscovered – a different side to their old 'enemy' and older friend… In recent times, this proved to be something that came in handy.

"My father… invited Finn to dinner at our house…" she revealed, then paused. "I don't know if I can make it through that without my head exploding…" She recooled her hand for her neck.

"Because of the… the baby?" Rachel asked, and Quinn nodded slowly.

"Among other things," she admitted. "I just imagine it coming out, and… Nothing good can come of it, but Finn, he can't see it…" Rachel instinctively nodded in agreement at that, though she caught herself and tried to pull it back discreetly. Quinn saw it, but her reaction barely registered… There were bigger issues at hand. "And then my father…" her voice soured on reflex. "I can't even look at him anymore, I just see him… with her… and his lies…" she drifted. "It's going to be a train wreck and I'm the only one who sees it," she looked to Rachel, of all things, for guidance.

"Maybe not…" she breathed hopefulness, to which Quinn raised an eyebrow, not sure where Rachel was going with this. "Not the evening being a potential train wreck; I have to agree on that…" Quinn gave a face as though to say 'is this supposed to help me feel better?' So Rachel explained what she meant. "You said you're the only one who sees it, well… that's not really true, is it?" she indicated herself, and Quinn slowly nodded. "All I'm saying is if you need backup, I'm only a call or a text away," she promised with a nod.

"Are you s…" Quinn started, but then she smiled. "Thank you," she accepted. Finally she was made to notice her surroundings a little more. "What happened here?" she asked of Rachel's previous outfit, almost sarcastically.

"What else…" Rachel sighed.

The night of the dinner, Rachel was home, going over her notes for a test… on standby. If Quinn called, then she'd be ready. She hoped for her sake that she wouldn't have to, but then she had a pretty good idea of how it would unfold, so… she stayed at the ready.

She couldn't imagine what Quinn was going through with her family. She could never picture one of her dads cheating on the other with someone, but then Quinn probably thought the same of her dad before Rachel had opened her eyes.

Then her message tone rang. She knew already it'd be from Quinn. It read _'Calling in reinforcements!'_ and Rachel was on the move. She had already told her dads she might go out that night, 'with friends.' The dinner at the Fabrays' was no doubt hectic enough without her dads wanting to tag along…

TO BE CONCLUDED (IN #400)

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**_[A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, story alert won't get you anything! ;)]_**


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